July 2015 Posts

Crafted to Last Movie Trailer

craftedCrafted To Last: Minnesota Beer Blossums screens tonight at the Redstar Club in the Fitger’s Brewery Complex.

Selective Focus: Color

Brandon Wagner

Brandon Wagner , “Hawaiian Punch”

Paul wins the horse race from the 30 or so photogs who snapped Kip’s birthday shots last week. And I’ve included a black and white photo, because as Van Gogh asserted, they’re colors too; though pedants would argue that in a subtractive color space, white is the absence of color. I bristle.

Best Underwater Footage of Duluth’s Atlantean Ruins

Underwater footage of Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum off the Duluth Lakewalk in relatively clear conditions. First I videoed the collapsed column in 9 feet of water, Then because visibility was so good, I swam around the base of the building structure too. That is 16 feet deep according to a depth chart I saw once.

Lost cat in Lakeside

IMG_0587Maddie is lost! She’s a 10-year-old shorthair spayed female cat. Maddie is a dominantly white calico cat with a caramel-colored “mustache.” Maddie weighs about 10-11 lbs.

Maddie is an indoor cat who never goes outside. She’s sweet and cuddly when at home, but she’s timid and skittish in strange situations. She’s probably very frightened and hiding in bushes or under a deck/porch. Maddie was last seen on July 18 near 48th Avenue East and Cooke Street in Duluth.

Socks for Survivors

The Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse is holding its fourth annual golf scramble — “Socks for Survivors” — on July 31 at Nemadji Golf Course. If golf isn’t your thing, that’s okay! You can still help support CASDA’s essential services.

Many individuals come into crisis shelters with nothing but the clothing on their backs. Socks are the least donated, but one of the most needed items in shelters. As the kids say, “you can be a hero too!”

Chester Bowl Park Downhill Ski “Fun Slope”

Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division is preparing Chester Bowl Park for a new “fun slope,” according to a news release issued today.

Crews will be out clearing out a section of the hill within the ski area in preparation for the upcoming winter season. The new “fun slope” with gentle waves of snowy berms for skiing was identified as a desired addition to the park in the Chester Park Mini-Master Plan, approved in November 2014.

Crews will be working this week into next during daytime hours, but the public should not experience any interruption in their use of the park spaces or trails. The area will be covered with wood chips to reduce erosion and smooth out the area winter operations.

Looking for an affordable plaster repair and ceiling painter

We need an affordable plaster repair and ceiling painter for the first week of August. We have done this job before, but with three small kiddos we need to seek help (although my 14-month-old is totally willing to assist!). It’s pretty straight forward and a quick moving job, other than one area over the staircase that is more tricky. I’d love to pay someone by the day. I think it’d be two days max if you’re motivated.

Perfect Outdoor Concert Venue: Bayfront Festival Park

PDDPerfectOutdoorConcertVenueLogoDuluthians aren’t shy about loving Bayfront Park. Asked in PDD’s poll to name the best outdoor concert venue, 71.5 percent gave their nod to the 10-acre harbor-side multi-purpose park that has hosted Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Trampled by Turtles, Wilco, the Monkees, the Doobie Brothers, Willie Nelson, Steve Martin, nearly three decades of Bayfront Blues Festivals and a long list of others.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune also named Bayfront the state’s “Best Outdoor Music Venue” in 2014, noting: “It has the Aerial Lift Bridge, hilly city skyline and occasional passing ore boat for a backdrop, the cool breeze off Lake Superior for natural air-conditioning and a huge grassy lawn for stretching out. … Coolest of all: Families can bring kids under 12 to shows for free, as is dictated by the city.”

Heiko has a party

Heiko has a party

An artistic collaboration between Jeremiah Brown, Brian Barber and Banksy. T-shirts go on sale never.

Lucie Amundsen – Drifts

Awesome creative writing from local creative type Lucie Amundsen.
Check it out!

Excerpt:

Drifts (from Portland Review)

It’s just past midnight and my 13-year-old is not back from her babysitting gig. Abbie’s a couple of hours late now and the parents’ cell rolls directly to voice mail. Likely it’s just drained of charge from the weather. It’s that cold. Days of Arctic fronts have animated our newscasters, who brandish their arms over the Minnesota map as they issue dire warnings. The air is more than raw, it’s dangerous. …

R.I.P. Edgewood Joshua Smith

Photo by Paul Van Antwerp

Photo by Paul Van Antwerp

We are crushed at Perfect Duluth Day to learn our great friend Edgewood Smith died on July 15.

This Week: lions and Temperance and brews, oh my

Untitled design
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:

The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League brings its Prohibition swing to Chester Bowl, kids can make a racket at the West Duluth Branch Library, Tippi Hedren shows us why having lions for roommates is a bad idea in Roar, Take it With You does their 12th show (complete with tailgate party) and a heat-beating opportunity presents itself in the form of a free open-skate.

The Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra joins forces with Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe and Lake Superior Youth Chorus to present a Persian fable, farmers peddle their wares in West Duluth, the Minneapolis radio station The Current comes to Duluth to show Duluth some Duluth bands at a couple of events, the Free Range Film Festival fills a Wrenshall barn with indie films, the Duluth Huskies play the St. Cloud Rox and the All Points North Summer Brew Fest hits Bayfront Park.

Web Woods Trail

Web Woods Trail entrance

New hiking paths pop up in Duluth faster than I can keep track of them. Web Woods Trail was in the news when it opened in 2012, but I didn’t check it out back then, and soon I’d forgotten about it. So when my wife asked if I’d ever been on the trail off Oak Bend Drive in Duluth Heights all I could respond with is: “What trail?

Poll: What is the best outdoor concert venue in the Duluth area?

What is the best outdoor concert venue in the Duluth area? It’s is an all-things-considered poll — acoustics, aesthetics, parking, lavatories, etc.

Note: This is PDD’s first runoff poll, which means instead of having an elimination round and a final round of voting, the options with the fewest votes will simply start dropping off of this poll. So check back, because if you vote for something and it drops off the list, you can vote again for one of the remaining options until we have a winner.

This poll is now closed. The results were:

Bayfront Festival Park — 71.5 percent
Big Top Chautauqua — 19 percent
Leif Erikson Park — 9.5 percent

Eliminated during run-off vote: Barker’s Island Pavilion, Billings Park, Chester Bowl, DeWitt-Seitz parking lot, First Street, Glensheen Mansion Pier, Lake Place Park, Lake Superior Plaza, Lincoln Park Pavilion, Lucius Woods Performing Arts Center, Northwest Iron parking lot and Wade Municipal Stadium.

Plein Air: Painting and Chalk Drawing under Open Sky

I saw my friends Dana and Michelle yesterday, and they reminded me that this is one heckova week for art outdoors.

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